The devastating effects of the lack of moisture produced by exocrine gland dysfunction are obvious when observed in the clinical setting. The complexity of the symptoms observed in the etiology of autoimmune-disease associated exocrinopathy makes proper diagnosis and treatment problematical. Much of the disease pathology of the exocrine glands is found in autoimmune diseases identified in a small fraction of the general population. Thus, this lack of public exposure and spotlight on proper diagnosis and treatment categorize these illnesses as "orphaned diseases." Typically, these illnesses effect women over men and have therefore been underrepresented in the interests of the health care researcher, health care providers and pharmaceutical industries. Exocrine gland dysfunction associated with the recognized major autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes) still suffers from a lack of understanding of its pathophysiology due to its somewhat "orphaned" status among the major symptoms of these diseases. In this context, the Center for Orphaned Autoimmune Disorders requests funds for a national symposium on the Oral and Ocular Sequelae of Autoimmune Diseases for February 25-26, 1994, in Gainesville, Florida. Our objectives for this symposium are to bring together a multidisciplinary collection of researchers, clinicians and educators for the purpose of focusing attention on oral and ocular pathology associated with autoimmune disorders. This conference will accomplish these goals by 1) Transferring scientific knowledge of autoimmune disease sequelae to the clinical community practice by presenting recent scientific advances and their relevance to clinical practices, 2) Stimulating further research by defining future directions and poorly understood clinical issues related to diagnosis and treatment, 3) Improve communication between these groups by bringing them together in the same meeting to develop the field of pathophysiology of autoimmune diseases affecting exocrine gland function. The lack of a cohesive set of diagnostic criteria and poor understanding of disease epidemiology contribute to the underdiagnosis of Sicca syndrome in the population. Too often, patient diagnosis and care are often based on trial and error and the persistence of the patient in acquiring proper evaluation for several independent clinical specialties. It is this lack of broad knowledge on behalf of healthcare providers that leads to an unnecessary delay and proper treatment of resulting pathology. For these reasons, a mechanism for the dissemination of critical scientific knowledge to clinicians needs to be established on a high priority to develop awareness in the field. Highlighting areas of poor clinical understanding of diagnostic criteria and patient treatment response need to be presented to the research community to encourage further scientific investigation. The symposium on Oral and Ocular Sequelae of Autoimmune Diseases will begin this process for the autoimmune associated orphaned disorders.